(Part 5) The Heat and Holiness of Cambodia: From Siem Reap to Phnom Penh or....North Korea?!?!

- April 19, 2019, Friday.

- Friday was probably the most relaxing day that I had since I arrived in Cambodia on Palm Sunday. Most of my trips around Siem Reap included the usual temple-hopping, visits to museums, and other memorials (click for Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here). On my last morning in Siem Reap, I suddenly had so much free time since I received an e-mail a week prior from Cambodian Angkor Air that my domestic flight from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh that was supposed to be at 6am was rescheduled to 3pm. This was because their summer schedule changed and I scheduled my flight using their pre-summer schedule (just a warning, the website of Cambodian Angkor Air is a bit confusing in so many ways) and so the 6am flight was not anymore applicable for this time of the year. Thankfully, I had a rather loose schedule and I was quickly able to fix my itinerary for Siem Reap and especially Phnom Penh.

- On my last morning, I had a short visit to the Royal Residence. This is not the main palace of the king of Cambodia, but a place where the king and other members of the royal family stay whenever they visit the ancient Cambodian capital of Siem Reap. The Royal Residence can easily be missed as it is made in a rather modern architectural style, and its size neither screams "palace" nor "royal." The residence is off limits to the public, although the spacious garden/park in front of it welcomes all visitors.

Royal Residence.

I could use a nice house like this haha.

- In the middle of the garden/park across the Royal Residence is a temple called Preah Ang Chek Preah Ang Chorm. Although small and certainly incomparable to the grandeur of the Angkorian temples in the jungles of Siem Reap, this temple is flocked by many local devotees. The statues of the two Buddhas, Preach Ang Chek and Preah Ang Chorm, were found in Angkor Thom in 1950. Since then both statues, which were deemed miraculous, went to the hands of many people such as a superstitious nationalist who kept the statues for himself, and later on generals of the communist regime who wanted to get ride of the statues as religion was against the communist philosophy. After the communist era, or the Khmer Rouge Era, the statues were retrieved and given a proper temple in its current location.   

A monk looking for flowers to give as offerings to the statues.

Preah Ang Chek Preah Ang Chorm.

The two miraculous statues.

A traditional ensemble with a couple doing their pre-nup photoshoot.

Temple guardian.

- With no where else to go, I went back to my hostel and strolled around until it was time to me to have lunch and go to the airport for my afternoon flight to Siem Reap. The trip took around an hour in a small plane, and the plane fare was quite cheap. I think this is a good way to go between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to save time. Most people go between cities by bus, but the bus trip would take around 5-6 hours.

Goodbye Siem Reap!!

- After arriving at the capital city of Phnom Penh, I booked a pre-paid cab at the stall right outside the airport that would take my to my hostel in downtown Phnom Penh. I immediately noticed how there are a lot more high-rise buildings in urban Phnom Penh as compared to more provincial Siem Reap. As I arrived in the late afternoon, I was caught in the middle of an early rush hour. I arrived at my hostel around 5pm. By the way, I stayed at Mad Monkey Hostel, which is an international hostel chain. I booked a private room just like my hostel in Siem Reap. I chose this hostel not only because of its high ratings and reasonable room price, but also because it is close to many restaurants and convenience stores. It was also located close to most tourist spots (at least by tuktuk.)

- Since I arrived late in the afternoon, I just had some rest inside my room after checking in, before walking to the restaurant for dinner. That evening, I decided to eat at one of the most controversial restaurant chains in the whole world - Pyongyang Restaurant. Pyongyang Restaurant is the name of a chain of restaurants built by North Korea in some countries that have diplomatic relations with North Korea (ex. China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.) In Phnom Penh alone, there are around three of these restaurants. Since I have no plans of going to North Korea anytime soon (not sure if I'll ever decide to go that is,) going to a Pyongyang Restaurant would be my next best bet apart from visiting the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ between North and South Korea (click here for my trip to the DMZ via South Korea.) I realized that I would forget visiting these Pyongyang Restaurants whenever I'd travel. The closest I had been to one of these was during my trip to Beijing (click here) two years ago, but it was closed when I arrived. Now, I made sure that I wouldn't miss my chance. These restaurants, by the way, are known for their flashy performances every night, and serving rather expensive North-Korean dishes as each penny that goes to these restaurants go to the North Korean regime.

Here we are. A taste of North Korea.

- One of the three branches in Phnom Penh was conveniently located a kilometer away from my hostel, which was convenient enough to reach by walking. I entered the restaurant after seeing its bright sign, and was welcomed by around ten charming North-Korean ladies in their matching hanboks. It was around 6pm, and no one else was around except for this elderly (South?) Korean lady who finished her meal not too long after I arrived. I quickly ordered a bowl of raengmyeon or cold noodles (called "naengmyeon" in South Korea) as it was the specialty of the Pyongyang region. While waiting for my food, I noticed that aesthetics of the place looked rather old (like something from the 70s or 80s, at least based on what I see on TV shows from that time). They also did not allow people to take photos or videos of the place.

- While seated, the charming ladies who served both as waitresses and the performers of the night talked to me. At first I spoke in Korean as they did not speak good English. However, I sensed something suspicious after I noticed they would comment on every answer that I gave. The questions were also innocent at first, but later became more personal. I suddenly remembered many articles I read before that were about how these restaurants doubled as places where espionage was being done by the staff, or worse, where they recruited spies-to-be for North Korea. The waitresses (yes, none were male,) were trained to be charming like the mediaeval-Korea era gisaengs, so they can get the answers the needed.  Being cautious, I lessened my answers and laid low with my Korean and spoke more English instead. Minutes later, more customers arrived, mainly small groups of mainland Chinese people, and I felt safer as the waitresses had to spread out and entertain these customers.

- After paying for my average-quality raengmyeon/naengmyeon, I watched the talked-about performance of these waitresses. They passionately sang nationalistic songs, gracefully danced traditional dances, and enthusiastically played modern songs with their instruments. The whole performance was done in around 30 minutes. (I was able to get some photos as I was the only person seated at the back and the lights were dimmed.) Just before they fully turned on the lights, I literally RAN out of the restaurant as I was a bit freaked out with everything. I didn't want to spend a second more in that restaurant. (Tip: if you want to experience this restaurant, by all means do so, but make sure you're not alone, and you won't speak much Korean in case you do know how.)

Traditional janggu dance.

Playing classical crossover.

Trying their hand on that girl-group trend.

- After arriving at my hostel in record speed, I had to catch my breath, and buy some snacks at the convenience center just around the corner of my hostel. Admittedly I was still a bit hungry as my raengmyeon/naengmyeon from Pyongyang Restaurant had limited portions, and I did not want to order more because of the sketchiness of the restaurant. I was really just glad that I was safe.

- I spent the rest of the night preparing my things and packing my things as I would only stay in Phnom Penh for a night (would've had more time to explore Phnom Penh if it weren't for my sudden airplane schedule change situation.) Despite my (mis)adventures during my first evening in Phnom Penh, I shrugged off those sentiments to give way to my excitement as I'd be spending the following day seeing the must-sees of Phnom Penh!! (Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, and Part 6 here!!)